2025 Activity Report vol.12:Hokkaido University

As part of Sakura Science Exchange Program (SSP) supported by Japan Science and Technology, a group of students from 5 different institutes in India visited Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan, from 08 to 17 November 2025. This visit provided with an exceptional opportunity to engage directly with advanced research laboratories, interact with leading scientists, and explore ongoing international research initiatives across physics, chemistry, materials science, biology, and several interdisciplinary domains. The week-long programme included intensive laboratory interactions, research demonstrations, hands-on experiments, and opportunities to discuss future collaborations with senior faculty at RIES (Research Institute for Electronic Science). What made the visit particularly remarkable was not only the advanced scientific facilities but also the warmth, humility, and supportive mindset of Japanese researchers, which created a highly inspiring academic environment for both students and faculty.

Day 1 – November 10, 2025

The program commenced with an inaugural session hosted by Dr. P. K. Hashim, Assistant Professor at Hokkaido University and coordinator of the SSP program. The students were welcomed alongside faculty and visiting speakers. An online inaugural address by Mr. Madhu Sudan Ravindran, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India, Tokyo, emphasized the growing academic collaboration between India and Japan. In the afternoon, SSP students visited Prof. Hiroshi Hinou's Advanced Chemical Biology Laboratory, where the group learned about emerging research in glycan chemistry and olfactory-inspired sensing technologies for next-generation chemical sensors.

Day 2 – November 11, 2025

The day began at Prof. OHTA's Functional Thin Film Materials Laboratory at RIES. SSP students were introduced to breakthroughs in oxide thermoelectric, transparent conducting oxides, and atomically engineered thin films. The lab's work on transparent oxide thin film transistors, potential successors to silicon electronics, was a major highlight.

Next, SSP students participated in a hands-on training session at the SEM facility led by MORI Yuko, where they learned sample preparation, operation, and imaging principles. The group then visited Prof. NAGASHIMA Kazuki's laboratory, where SSP students were introduced to artificial olfaction technologies using inkjet-printable sensing arrays. The day concluded at Dr. Hashim's laboratory, where SSP students learned about stimuli-responsive supramolecular materials for life-science applications.

Day 3 – November 12, 2025

Dr. Takuya Okamoto delivered a lecture introducing SSP students to photonic nanomaterials, quantum dots, and perovskite microcrystals followed by hands-on experiments on the fabrication of quantum dots. In the afternoon, SSP students visited Prof. Toshiyuki Nakagaki's Physical Ethology Laboratory. They observed demonstrations of the intelligent behaviour of slime molds, known for solving mazes and optimizing pathways despite lacking a nervous system. These demonstrations provided insights into bio-inspired computation and unconventional problem-solving algorithms. The evening session with Prof. Yoshinori Nishino and Dr. Akihiro Suzuki was about coherent X-ray imaging, ptychography, and nanobeam scanning techniques used for nanoscale material and biological imaging.

Day 4 – November 13, 2025

At the Gong Laboratory, one of the world's leading soft matter research groups, SSP students learned about double-network hydrogels and their mechanical properties. Prof. Tasuku Nakajima explained how double network gels mimic biological tissues and form the basis for advanced biomedical materials. Then, the SSP students had a chance to visit a clean-room training session led by Prof. Xu Shi about nanofabrication processes and the design of functional nanostructures. Later, at Dr. Masaki Itatani's laboratory, SSP students were shown how non-equilibrium reaction–diffusion systems lead to self-organized pattern formation, demonstrating principles important in nanomaterial engineering.

Day 5 – November 14, 2025

SSP students visited the Gowda Laboratory, where they learned about lipidomics, metabolomics, and biomolecular mass spectrometry. The group was introduced to disease biomarker research, lipid metabolism, and bioactive lipid chemistry.Then s visit to the Hokkaido University Museum offered SSP students a cultural and academic perspective of the university's history and achievements across various fields.

Day 6 – November 15, 2025

At the Nikon Imaging Center, SSP students explored advanced microscopy platforms for live-cell imaging, materials analysis, and nanostructure visualization. The final laboratory visit was to Dr. MITOMO Hideyuki's group in the Division of Soft Matter, where SSP students learned how self-assembled gold nanostructures are designed for photonic and plasmonic applications. In the next session, SSP students has engaging talk by the visiting faculty member from Chitose Institute of Science and Technology, who shared academic and professional journey, as a foreigner in Japan.

The closing session of the program was led by Dr. Hashim, who offered guidance to undergraduate students, master's students, research scholars, and faculty members. He emphasized how international exposure, interdisciplinary thinking, and long-term collaborations can shape meaningful academic careers. All the students received participation certificates and they shared SSP experience via a slide-based presentation.